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Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

World's oldest person dies at 117

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The world mourned over the weekend as the world’s oldest person died in Italy at the age of 117.

Emma Morano, born on Nov. 29, 1899, was officially the last living person born in 
the 1800s.

On her 117th birthday, Morano told Reuters that her life “wasn’t too nice.” Spanning three centuries, Morano’s life saw the horror of two World Wars, more than 90 Italian governments, the loss of her only son and an abusive marriage.

“‘Either you agree to marry me or I will kill you,’” Morano said her husband told her. “I was 26. We got married.”

According to the BBC, Morano attributed her long life to both genetics and her diet. Her mother died at 91 and several sisters made it to 100 years of age.

“When I first knew her she used to eat three eggs a day. Two raw, and one fried,” Carlo Bava, Morano’s doctor, said in an interview last year. “Today she has slowed down a bit, reducing the number to two some days because she says three can be too much. She has never eaten much fruit or vegetables. Her characteristic is that she always eats the same thing, every day, every week, every month and every year.”

The world’s oldest person is now Violet Brown, a Jamaican woman born March 10, 1900, according to the Gerontology 
Research Group.

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